PRE-SEASON

[The Fish 10856]

I think there's excessive pessimism because we haven't had that jolt of excitement that a marquee signing brings. It's withdrawal symptoms as much as anything else. 

 

We needed depth on the flanks because with Ritchie's absence would come a sharp drop in creativity, control and threat from set pieces. Murphy is an able understudy and a player I think will usurp Ritchie eventually. Aarons, Atsu, Kenedy, Murphy, and Ritchie means we've got genuine competition for places on the flanks.

 

Merino is being spoken as cover for Hayden, but as we're morphing into a counter attack side, (rather than the side dictating the tempo and areas of play) I can see us playing with two more destructive players and Shelvey forward of those two, not quite a number 10, but nearly. Merino has shown glimpses of his passing ability and while pinning your hopes on performances in pre-season is like putting your faith in a gossamer parachute, it appears he has more of Shelvey's vision than Hayden does so perhaps in Merino we have an understudy?

 

Lejeune has had nothing but praise from all quarters in pre-season, he was well spoken of in the press while he was at Eibar and it's an area we'd identified as a concern. In Clark, Lascelles, Lejeune and Mbemba I think we've a nice mix of grit and class. Lascelles is limited and prone to a mistake, but I can't see our club captain playing as big a role as he did in the Championship. Clark looked quality last season and I still think there's a player in Mbemba.

 

Manquillo is competition for Yedlin, but honestly has looked very good in preseason. 

 

None of the transfers are sexy, but Benitez doesn't play sexy football. I've more faith in the foreign imports having the right mentality, than I was under Carr. Of course he wants more and he wants better, name me a manager that wouldn't want free reign to buy as many quality players as possible? He'll be frustrated, justifiably so, but I don't think he'll walk and as long as we're not scrapping against relegation all year, he won't go before Christmas either. 

 

3 weeks, a couple more signings and we'll be much more comfortable. I still think we'll end up somewhere between 9th and 15th.

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 3892]

50 minutes ago, The Fish said:

I think there's excessive pessimism because we haven't had that jolt of excitement that a marquee signing brings. It's withdrawal symptoms as much as anything else. 

 

We needed depth on the flanks because with Ritchie's absence would come a sharp drop in creativity, control and threat from set pieces. Murphy is an able understudy and a player I think will usurp Ritchie eventually. Aarons, Atsu, Kenedy, Murphy, and Ritchie means we've got genuine competition for places on the flanks.

 

Merino is being spoken as cover for Hayden, but as we're morphing into a counter attack side, (rather than the side dictating the tempo and areas of play) I can see us playing with two more destructive players and Shelvey forward of those two, not quite a number 10, but nearly. Merino has shown glimpses of his passing ability and while pinning your hopes on performances in pre-season is like putting your faith in a gossamer parachute, it appears he has more of Shelvey's vision than Hayden does so perhaps in Merino we have an understudy?

 

Lejeune has had nothing but praise from all quarters in pre-season, he was well spoken of in the press while he was at Eibar and it's an area we'd identified as a concern. In Clark, Lascelles, Lejeune and Mbemba I think we've a nice mix of grit and class. Lascelles is limited and prone to a mistake, but I can't see our club captain playing as big a role as he did in the Championship. Clark looked quality last season and I still think there's a player in Mbemba.

 

Manquillo is competition for Yedlin, but honestly has looked very good in preseason. 

 

None of the transfers are sexy, but Benitez doesn't play sexy football. I've more faith in the foreign imports having the right mentality, than I was under Carr. Of course he wants more and he wants better, name me a manager that wouldn't want free reign to buy as many quality players as possible? He'll be frustrated, justifiably so, but I don't think he'll walk and as long as we're not scrapping against relegation all year, he won't go before Christmas either. 

 

3 weeks, a couple more signings and we'll be much more comfortable. I still think we'll end up somewhere between 9th and 15th.

 

Yeah but you tell makems that Rafa is shit.

[David Kelly 1245]

1 hour ago, The Fish said:

I think there's excessive pessimism because we haven't had that jolt of excitement that a marquee signing brings. It's withdrawal symptoms as much as anything else. 

 

We needed depth on the flanks because with Ritchie's absence would come a sharp drop in creativity, control and threat from set pieces. Murphy is an able understudy and a player I think will usurp Ritchie eventually. Aarons, Atsu, Kenedy, Murphy, and Ritchie means we've got genuine competition for places on the flanks.

 

Merino is being spoken as cover for Hayden, but as we're morphing into a counter attack side, (rather than the side dictating the tempo and areas of play) I can see us playing with two more destructive players and Shelvey forward of those two, not quite a number 10, but nearly. Merino has shown glimpses of his passing ability and while pinning your hopes on performances in pre-season is like putting your faith in a gossamer parachute, it appears he has more of Shelvey's vision than Hayden does so perhaps in Merino we have an understudy?

 

Lejeune has had nothing but praise from all quarters in pre-season, he was well spoken of in the press while he was at Eibar and it's an area we'd identified as a concern. In Clark, Lascelles, Lejeune and Mbemba I think we've a nice mix of grit and class. Lascelles is limited and prone to a mistake, but I can't see our club captain playing as big a role as he did in the Championship. Clark looked quality last season and I still think there's a player in Mbemba.

 

Manquillo is competition for Yedlin, but honestly has looked very good in preseason. 

 

None of the transfers are sexy, but Benitez doesn't play sexy football. I've more faith in the foreign imports having the right mentality, than I was under Carr. Of course he wants more and he wants better, name me a manager that wouldn't want free reign to buy as many quality players as possible? He'll be frustrated, justifiably so, but I don't think he'll walk and as long as we're not scrapping against relegation all year, he won't go before Christmas either. 

 

3 weeks, a couple more signings and we'll be much more comfortable. I still think we'll end up somewhere between 9th and 15th.

With the squad we currently have I think we will be scrapping against relegation.  I'm not saying we will be relegated because in the likes of the other two promoted teams and Burnley I don't see anything to be concerned about.  But with what we have at the moment I don't think we will be comfortable which I think was Rafa's target for this season.  Seeing Lejeune, Merino and Murphy in competitive action may change my mind somewhat but as of now I think it's only having Rafa that is our trump card.  

 

Two or three decent signings between now and the end of the month could very well make the difference between the 15-18 position that I think we currently stand at, and moving up to mid table security.  

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

The most worrying thing is Gayle at the moment. He's still having bother with this hamstring after a summer off, Rafa is still saying it's all in his head. Wonder what's going on there. We'll go down if this carries on and we don't get a striker in

[David Kelly 1245]

There's should be no way we can go into the season with just the two strikers we have regardless of Gayles injury problems.  But the fact that he still has an issue makes it absolutely essential that we don't finish August with just him and Mitro.

[The Fish 10856]

44 minutes ago, David Kelly said:

With the squad we currently have I think we will be scrapping against relegation.  I'm not saying we will be relegated because in the likes of the other two promoted teams and Burnley I don't see anything to be concerned about.  But with what we have at the moment I don't think we will be comfortable which I think was Rafa's target for this season.  Seeing Lejeune, Merino and Murphy in competitive action may change my mind somewhat but as of now I think it's only having Rafa that is our trump card.  

 

Two or three decent signings between now and the end of the month could very well make the difference between the 15-18 position that I think we currently stand at, and moving up to mid table security.  

 

There's a lot of shit in the top flight and a lot of the shit in the top flight haven't strengthened in the window so far. 7 teams have spent <£20m, 4 of those teams were in the relegation conversation for much of the season (Stoke, Swansea, Palace, Burnley).

 

Watford have spent £50m and without knowing loads about their Brazilian forward, the rest of their signings aren't much more exciting than ours. Andre Gray has as many top flight goals as Mitrovic and they threw £18m at Burnley for him.

 

I think we'll be bottom half, and in the relegation conversation, but that's because half the league will be in that conversation.

[David Kelly 1245]

9 minutes ago, The Fish said:

 

There's a lot of shit in the top flight and a lot of the shit in the top flight haven't strengthened in the window so far. 7 teams have spent <£20m, 4 of those teams were in the relegation conversation for much of the season (Stoke, Swansea, Palace, Burnley).

 

Watford have spent £50m and without knowing loads about their Brazilian forward, the rest of their signings aren't much more exciting than ours. Andre Gray has as many top flight goals as Mitrovic and they threw £18m at Burnley for him.

 

I think we'll be bottom half, and in the relegation conversation, but that's because half the league will be in that conversation.

Stoke had a bad season last year but they still have good players and I expect them to be better this season.  I also think Palace underachieved last term and expect an improvement.  Swansea and Watford are two teams that I definitely think we can overtake which I why I had us in the 15-18 positions.  Huddersfield, Brighton, Burnley, Swansea & Watford, if we finish above them all that's us up to 15th. Those other two yes it's not impossible that we could overtake them but as it stands I'd say they have more players I'd be confident of performing in this division than us.

[wolfy 12]

The way the market is and the way that some clubs are trying to punch well above their weight, transfer wise, I think will create a less than focused squad/team ethic.

The key is getting a - in it together mindset - along with the physical and technical coaching.

I believe Rafa can do much better than most in this situation regardless of our players apparently looking inferior to many other teams players, in certain fans eyes.

I think we've bought well considering the money spent.

We might not rip up the prem but I believe we are good enough to make an equal, if not better fist of it than most clubs, barring the obvious big spending top 7 or 8 usual suspects.

 

I'd say we could do with a top all round striker added into the mix before the window closes, but hopefully we can manage until then in using what we have at our disposal, in Mitro and Gayle with a generous contribution from the attack minded crew.

[The Fish 10856]

11 minutes ago, David Kelly said:

Stoke had a bad season last year but they still have good players and I expect them to be better this season.  I also think Palace underachieved last term and expect an improvement.  Swansea and Watford are two teams that I definitely think we can overtake which I why I had us in the 15-18 positions.  Huddersfield, Brighton, Burnley, Swansea & Watford, if we finish above them all that's us up to 15th. Those other two yes it's not impossible that we could overtake them but as it stands I'd say they have more players I'd be confident of performing in this division than us.

 

Stoke have sold Arnautovic, Walters and Whelan. Now, the latter two may not be great players, but they're all right, losing Arnautovic and not replacing him properly could be disastrous. Add to that the rumblings about an unhappy Hughes and they could be in serious shit. 

 

Palace should improve, but they've a manager new to the league and could be mint or could be terrible. Hugely reliant on Benteke and should he get injured...

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

Pretending his knew Walters had gone in a different thread

[David Kelly 1245]

2 minutes ago, The Fish said:

 

Stoke have sold Arnautovic, Walters and Whelan. Now, the latter two may not be great players, but they're all right, losing Arnautovic and not replacing him properly could be disastrous. Add to that the rumblings about an unhappy Hughes and they could be in serious shit. 

 

Palace should improve, but they've a manager new to the league and could be mint or could be terrible. Hugely reliant on Benteke and should he get injured...

Which is why I said it's not impossible for us to finish above them.  But I still look at their squads (Stoke: Butland, Johnson, Shawcross, Zouma, Allen, Fletcher, Shaquiri etc.  Palace: Benteke, Cabaye, Zaha, Townsend etc) and I see better quality and then a load of less exciting players who have a good amount of premier league experience.

[The Fish 10856]

8 minutes ago, TheGingerQuiff said:

Pretending his knew Walters had gone in a different thread

You what sunshine?

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

[Ayatollah Hermione 13863]

13 hours ago, David Kelly said:

Which is why I said it's not impossible for us to finish above them.  But I still look at their squads (Stoke: Butland, Johnson, Shawcross, Zouma, Allen, Fletcher, Shaquiri etc.  Palace: Benteke, Cabaye, Zaha, Townsend etc) and I see better quality and then a load of less exciting players who have a good amount of premier league experience.

 

Reckon the only saving grace with Stoke is that Hughes has proven, time and again, that he can't get the best out of those players. Very direct and cautious when they're losing and totally wasting Shaquiri. If he makes it past Christmas, I'll be amazed